aus ss ute

iTrader: (1)

Hi everyone, this is my vu ss ute. Had it about 5 yrs, pretty much stock when I bought it, done a fair bit of work to it since then. Its a daily driver, live close to the city so deal with a lot of stop start traffic, I've built the engine to be pretty torquey, without being too savage on fuel with decent manners.

Engine mods:
ls1
ls2 heads
EPS 218/222 114+1 lsa custom cam
yella terra rockers
918 springs
comp pushrods
duspeed otr intake
billet 78mm throttle body
ported ls6 oil pump
ls2 timing chain
ls7 lifters

Exhaust:
1 3/4 4 into 1 headers
100 cell cats
manta catback dual tips
straight thru, no resonators

Gearbox:
t56 m6
gm ripshifter

Clutch:
monster stage 2
billet flywheel
remote bleeder
braided lines

Diff:
3.91s
eaton trutrac

Suspension:
ultima shortened shocks
king superlow
all nolathane bushes

Interior:
custom black leather, red stitching
coulson headrests
3 window dash
piano black fascia
maloo plastics, headliner pillars
vy steering wheel and shifter ****

Bodywork:
vz monaro front end genuine bonnet lights...
maloo tailgate
powdercoated roll bar

Wheels:
koya cr teks
265s rear, 245 front

Have done nearly all the work myself, like having a go at anything DIY.
Mafless tuned, went about 265rwkw on a pretty honest dyno before the stock clutch started slipping... Havent had it back on rollers since I got the new clutch. Clutch is really smooth, at idle has a little chop to it but is real easy to drive in traffic and no hop when doing lowspeed stuff

Brakes are next on my to do list, have a set of nearly new gto c6 calipers, pbr slotted rotors, russell braided lines and speed bleeders, hawk hps pads that i'll fitting in the next few weeks.
Then the sump gasket and rear cover are leaking so I'm going to fix that with a ls3! Imported a bare block from the states a couple weeks ago. Im going to have a go at building it from scratch, have nearly have all the parts i need, just need gaskets and bearings. Have a set of heads that have had a valve job, going to shave them .025 to get compression to 11:1, another custom cam 222/230 114+2, forged je pistons in case i go nitrous boost later on.

Did the heads and cam install on the current donk, never built a engine before but am aircraft engineer by trade. All my work is on gas turbine engines but am ok on the tools and used to working with precise tolerances. Most people reckon I should pay someone to put the bottom end together but I'm just going to take my time and have a go. If it blows up I'll have myself to blame and I'll sell whats left of the car and take up golf or some sort of less expensive hobby!

346ci

That is a sweet car, man I wish we could get those in the U.S.

aus ss ute

iTrader: (1)

Yeah cheers I love it, they are pretty popular over here seeing we dont get any v8 coupes anymore. They were apparently going to export them to you guys before the gfc

ramairetransam

iTrader: (18)

very cool . im surprised those are made , i don't think they would sell very many here in the states.

those headrests are nuts . whats the deal with them .

aus ss ute

iTrader: (1)

Thanks, yeah the US market is pretty tough to crack. You guys are lucky with all the choice you have. Think they are only going to make the v8 ones here for another couple years unfortunately.

The headrests are from Coulson seats that were fitted to some HSV models. The full seats are pretty rare and expensive so I cheated and bought the head rest foams and had them trimmed to fit my seats when I had my leather interior done.

metalmilitia606

iTrader: (8)

Is this basically a modern el camino? I kind of like it. Is the bed actually useable?

aus ss ute

iTrader: (1)

Yep pretty much much a modern el camino. The tray is usable, has a tailgate which flips down and stock I think they are rated to carry about 700kg. Once you start modding them with bigger wheels and lower springs etc that reduces tho. Good for moving house. They can be a bit of a handfull in the wet with no weight in the back.

sergo

love it!

what do i have to do to get some headrests like those? talk about a head turner...

aus ss ute

iTrader: (1)

Thanks, it cost a bit to the seats but I like the look and they stop you sliding around during spirited driving.
Have a look on Australian ebay for 'coulson seats', sometimes people are selling just the headrest foams.

Johnsea

iTrader: (1)

I want it. Looks bad ***.

aus ss ute

iTrader: (1)

I upgraded the brakes last week, decided to go with the 05/06 Gto C6 calipers, slotted rotors, hawk hps pads and russell ss lines. Pretty cheap and enough bite for the street.









Powder coated the hats of the rotors to try and stop them rusting and gave the brackets a coat of high temp paint.

Finished product
Front


Rear


Pretty happy so far, they are still bedding in but massive improvement over the stock ones.

aus ss ute

iTrader: (1)

Changed the plugs a couple days ago to bpr6efs-15s. Had iridium ones in there that had done about 50k on them, looked a bit crappy when I pulled em out.

Went out to Willowbank again that night and managed a best of 13.09 @ 110mph with a 2.03 60ft, so big improvement from last week. My launches were better but still need work. Hopefully I can get the 60 under 2.0 and get into the 12s before i try try the et streets.
Over 4k rpm and it just ends up spinning and getting untidy, much less and it bogs a little. Think I need to slip the clutch a little more and be accelerating from about 3.5k rpm.
A bit frustrating but good fun.

aus ss ute

iTrader: (1)

Went out to Willowbank last night, tried some second hand et streets I got cheap, they are down to the indicators but should be good for a few outings. Had 25 psi in them so may have been a little high, chatting to others they were running 18-20 so will try 20 next time. Had 4 runs, took me a little bit to get used to them but last 2 runs were 12.8 and 12.7 at 112mph with a 1.89 60ft. Pretty happy to get into the 12s.

I was leaving at 3-4k rpm with no wheelspin, didnt have the ***** to try a 5k launch without some spare axles on hand. They felt great though, wasn't getting any tramp during launch or burnout. Am going to get some spare cv's and try and get the tuner to have another look at it before I head out again. Like to try and get into the low 12s.

NitrousExpress

iTrader: (4)

That's a awesome looking car. I really do wish they had some of those over here.

Trey

aus ss ute

iTrader: (1)

Thanks, I love the mustangs, camaros and the more tolerant police that you guys have.
Will be talking to you guys soon about buying some bits for a stealth dry shot nitrous kit. I know how I want it to work, just not sure what I need yet.

AnotherWs6

iTrader: (17)

Cool stuff man. I like it. Congrats on the 12 second slip.

LFSADRG

iTrader: (1)

Killer rig. A tear still falls when thinking back about the concept G8 ST.

aus ss ute

iTrader: (1)

Thanks mate, only getting started with the drag racing thing but getting the time down each time I go. Like the ws6's, nice and light compared to ours and fast looking front on them

aus ss ute

iTrader: (1)

Cheers, nice rides in your sig. Yeah farking GFC, we were meant to get right hand drive camaros. Always want what you cant have, I like to get on US ebay and get a little bitter about what 20k buys over there compared to here

aus ss ute

iTrader: (1)

Vid from dyno.

Went and had the tune touched up on the wknd, didnt bother with a baseline but best pull was 364rwhp with bout 550 ft/lb torque. Leaned it out in a few areas and put some more timing in. Also sorted out some idle issues, feels nice and crisp and smoother at low rpm.



Nice flat torque line